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But how can you test it if your ARM-based Mac cannot run it? Most software vendors will simply stop making x86_64 builds.
by thw_9a83c 1y ago
But how can you test it if your ARM-based Mac cannot run it?
Most software vendors will simply stop making x86_64 builds.
- bayindirh 1y agoKeep older hardware at hand?
- thw_9a83c 1y agoSure! The point is that it wasn't necessary because of Rosetta. For example, I no longer have an Intel-based Mac, but I still want to build and test for x86_64.
- bayindirh 1y agoI understand where you are coming from and commend you for trying to support your users (I'd do the same!), but I don't think Apple marketed Rosetta 2 as a permanent solution after the transition. Another aspect is, a Mac stops getting software updates after ~7 years, and then the API level starts to drift between the latest macOS releases. So, after 10 year mark, you can't get the latest versions of the applications already since the features developers use aren't available in the older macOS versions and you can't run the software anyway.
- brookst 1y agoThere’s someone out there who wants to build for PowerPC. At some point you have to say it’s a tiny piece of the market and making a few people spend $300 for old hardware is better than maintaining back compat forever.
- freehorse 1y agoThe difference is there is still a lot of x86 software written for windows, which you will need x86 emulation to run it through whiskey/crossover on a mac.
- colejohnson66 1y agoAnd for x86-64 Windows builds, you should be testing using an x86-64 Windows machine, not Rosetta 2
- freehorse 1y agoI am writing from a user perspective, rather than testing your builds.
- zZorgz 1y agoMore issues generally arise from supporting/qualifying older OS versions than supporting specific architectures in my experience, so developers keep around older hardware or VMs for that purpose. In some other circumstances Rosetta may not be sufficient for testing older Intel hardware (one example is work on GPU)